Gainesville officials have come to an agreement over billboards in the city. Fairway Outdoor Advertising has agreed to remove two billboards for every digital billboard it erects.
- photo by Scott Rogers

Joshua Silavent

Updated:
Feb. 7, 2018, 6:18 p.m.

Gainesville officials have reached a compromise to allow
digital billboards within the city limits after nearly three years of
negotiations and threats of a lawsuit.

Close to 70 billboards are located in Gainesville, with the
vast majority owned by Fairway Outdoor Advertising.

Fairway owns an additional 32 billboards across Hall County,
where digital billboards are allowed.

Though digital billboards are a growing trend, and offer
advantages to the public, their advantages also come with caveats.

Limits on brightness, transition time between advertisements
and the distance between billboards were major considerations for city
officials.

City officials also wanted to reduce the number of
billboards altogether.

In a presentation to City Council a few years ago, Fairway
representatives said each digital billboard, which can cost between $100,000
and $250,000 to construct, has the capability of displaying six different
advertisements.

They would be equipped with LED lighting and have a lifespan
of about seven years.

Fairway had previously submitted 15 applications for permits
to convert existing “static” billboards into digital displays, all of which
were denied.

Fairway then threatened to file a lawsuit.

“We had been negotiating for quite some time,” City Manager
Bryan Lackey said. “I thought things were progressing well. Before they dropped
the threat of litigation, they didn’t want any restrictions on timing.”

City officials were willing to give Fairway several years to
make the conversions.

Representatives from Fairway did not return a call for
comment prior to deadline.

The agreement, which City Council approved this week,
requires that Fairway must remove two existing billboards for every digital
billboard it converts within the first two years.

That means, according to the terms obtained by The Times,
that Fairway will remove 14 “static” billboards and convert another seven to
digital displays.

City officials initially wanted a 3-to-1 ratio for the number
of billboards to be torn down versus the number of new digital displays.

Lackey said Fairway was pushing for a 1-to-1 ratio.

“I didn’t think we’d get that, to be honest …” Lackey said.
“We ended up where we thought we were going to be.”

After the second year, Fairway has an indefinite amount of
time to remove 18 existing billboards and convert just five.

The digital displays cannot exceed 300 square feet in size
and their height is limited to 35 feet; must use brick or stone around base
poles to a height of 10 feet to improve aesthetic; and must be placed on or
within 50 feet of an existing spot.

Moreover, displays must last at least 10 seconds and the
transition between messages can be no more than two seconds. There can be no
flashing or scrolling advertisements, and there are limits on brightness, as
well.

Fairway is required to make the digital displays available
to local, county and state law enforcement for emergency messages, such as
Amber Alerts, weather-related warnings and other public safety information as
needed.

Fairway must also donate time for the city to display event
and community messages eight times each calendar year for up to two weeks. The
city’s messages would be added to the advertising rotation.